More about BEJA: We are students, educators, parents, school staff, and concerned community members who are deeply tied to the neighborhoods of Boston and directly affected by public education. We are committed to building a stronger and better public school system that is driven by community voices. By engaging all communities in Boston and building power through unity, our youth and parent driven coalition is committed to working with our elected and appointed officials and holding them accountable to the actual needs and desires of the communities served by Boston Public Schools.

Come rep your school and learn about issues affecting BPS students. Get looped into our social justice campaigns like Student Rights and Climate, and give input on the direction of the district and Strategic Implementation Plan.

Come rep your school and learn about issues affecting BPS students. Get looped into our social justice campaigns like Student Rights and Climate, and give input on the direction of the district and Strategic Implementation Plan.

This Holiday Season, we're gathering to tell Mayor Walsh (AKA Mayor Santa Walsh) that 🎵 All We Want for Christmas* is PILOT Payments for our Communities 🎵. The City of Boston (AKA the North Pole) has an incredibly rich relationship with our large nonprofit institutions, including universities and hospitals. Because these institutions are nonprofits, these properties cannot be taxed. Nonprofits own nearly half of the City's land, and the North Pole's communities need these missing funds! So, the city has asked them to pay 25% of the value of their property tax in PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) Payments. Half of the PILOT can be paid through in-kind community benefits, such as college scholarships for local students. Despite this generous agreement, the North Pole's largest nonprofits have failed to pay $17 Million in PILOTs in 2018 alone.

Will these organizations be the Grinches that stole funds from our communities? No!

We're calling on Mayor Santa Walsh and our City Councillors to hold these organizations accountable to paying their full PILOTs. We believe that like the Grinch, these nonprofits can "grow their hearts three sizes" to partner with and fully invest in the great City.

With full PILOT payments, we can expand opportunities for education, housing, healthcare and economic mobility for ALL of our residents.

JOIN US for a holiday-themed action as we turn in over 1,000 petition signatures (sign! bit.ly/pilotpetition) to ask Mayor Santa Walsh and City Council to commit to:

1) Demanding that our largest and wealthiest nonprofit institutions pay their full Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) cash contributions and make plans to submit their overdue payments ($46.7 million from just Northeastern, BU, BC and Harvard).

Come rep your school, learn about issues affecting BPS students, and celebrate the holidays with BSAC. Get looped into our social justice campaigns like Student Rights and Climate, and give input on the direction of the district and Strategic Implementation Plan.

We're bringing together the students, parents, educators, and the whole MEJA community for a MEJA Winter Assembly. Building off of our statewide convening in the summer, we will be planning our path forward for the new year, talking about the Fund Our Future campaign to fund our public schools and colleges.

We'll also discuss the public education landscape following the election and going into the new legislative session on Beacon Hill. Charter school privatizers are trying to co-opt social justice language to advocate privatization, and they have a friend in Governor Baker.

Join us at the MEJA Winter Assembly to fight for the funding we deserve!

Join us for a conversation with Edgar Villanueva, nationally renowned social justice expert and author of Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance. The Hyams Foundation Executive Director Jocelyn Sargent will facilitate the discussion, which will explore how funders can meaningfully partner with communities of color and other marginalized communities to accelerate social justice.

One of several community listening sessions which have been organized to gain feedback from the community as to what characteristics they would like to see in the next superintendent. This listening session is for YOUTH ONLY

For the 7th year in a row, BSAC is hitting popular train stations to talk to students about school discipline. Share your story or join us in listening to others! Prep dates to be announced soon.

Participants who attend a planning session and are on the Listening team will receive a free Dignity in Schools t-shirt and are invited to a debrief session at the Bolling Building in the late afternoon. Pizza will be served.

Come rep your school and learn about issues affecting BPS students. Get looped into our social justice campaigns like Student Rights and Climate, and give input on the direction of the district and Strategic Implementation Plan.

More about BEJA: We are students, educators, parents, school staff, and concerned community members who are deeply tied to the neighborhoods of Boston and directly affected by public education. We are committed to building a stronger and better public school system that is driven by community voices. By engaging all communities in Boston and building power through unity, our youth and parent driven coalition is committed to working with our elected and appointed officials and holding them accountable to the actual needs and desires of the communities served by Boston Public Schools.

Join us to celebrate Lift Us Up, Don't Push Us Out! , which features voices from the frontlines of a new movement for educational justice that is growing across the United States. Each author tells their own story of how black and brown parents, students, educators, and their allies are fighting back against profound and systemic inequities and mistreatment of children of color in low-income communities. The organizers and activists recount their journeys to movement building, lift up victories and successes, and offer practical organizing strategies and community-based alternatives to traditional education reform and privatization schemes. BSAC alumni Carlos and Denyse are featured essayists.

Join us from 4pm-6pm Monday October 1 to Thursday October 4 for our onboarding and orientation week! Learn more about BSAC subcommittees (Student Rights, Youth Empowered Learning, and Climate Justice) and how each makes an impact in the district!

Join the JP Forum, Boston Ed Justice Alliance and the PILOT Action Group for this informative and important discussion onhow crucial it is to hold wealthy non profit institutions accountable to their communities for the betterment of the future of our city.

Please join us for a presentation by Enid Eckstein and Jonathan Rodrigues from the PILOT Action Group and BTU on the state of the city's Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program and recommendations for a more inclusive and successful partnership between the City of Boston and nonprofit institutions. Large non-profits must pay their fair share. Following the presentation, participants will have a chance to share their stories and input on their priorities for the PILOT program.

Background: Non-profits like large universities and hospitals do not have to pay property taxes. Starting in 2012, the City created the Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program to set guidelines and request community benefits and cash payments to help cover essential city services. The PILOT agreement stipulated institutions should pay 25% of their if-taxable property taxes, but half (12.5%) could be deducted in community benefits.

7 years after the program started, the wealthiest nonprofits have neglected to pay over $77 million in cash PILOT contributions. Assessed property values for nonprofits are stuck at 2010 rates. And community benefit reporting is not timely, not fully transparent and many times not what our community truly needs. Lastly, the program lacks sufficient community and City Council input and oversight.

For more information and to read the full "Boston's Payment in Lieu of Taxes: a Fair Deal for Boston Residents" go to bit.ly/PILOTactiongroup

The Boston Teacher's Union is excited to confirm our Fifth Annual BTU Back to School Fair for BPS families, Saturday September 22nd 1-4PM at the BTU and Carson Beach!

Last year’s event was a huge success with over 2,000 families coming out to focus on literacy, eat, play, and get resources from our community partners!

This year the BTU's Back To School Fair will have more music, activities and fun as well as the distribution of over 40,000 free books directly to families!

To download flyers in BPS families' most spoken languages, visit btu.org/backtoschool. ---Interested in volunteering to make this event a success? Sign up at the bottom of btu.org/backtoschool under 'volunteers'

Interested in tabling for your nonprofit/cause? Sign up at the bottom of btu.org/backtoschool under 'nonprofit organizations'